Kids Korner: Get Your Cheer On

By Jordan Slocum

This past week my school, Colleton Prep Academy, held summer cheerleading camp. The squads who participated were the “Wee-Hawks” and the Elementary cheerleaders. Wee-Hawks are K-4 thru second graders while elementary cheerleaders are third thru fifth graders. The camp is run by Meagan Driggers. She is also the cheer coach for the all of the cheer leaders at our school. Mrs. Meagan also teaches gymnastics with low country gymnastics. She has led the Varsity cheerleaders to two state titles since becoming the coach at my school. The older cheerleaders were also there this week to help us.

A typical day at cheer camp started at 9 a.m. The first thing we did was play duck-duck-goose and then we stretched. After stretching we gathered on the big blue cheer mats where we would do somersaults, cartwheels, round offs, bear walks, and duck walks. Next, it was time to learn to stunt. The older cheerleaders taught us how to do a one foot, extensions, and a pyramid. When stunt time was over we were able to play a game of ships and sailors. It is a fun game that is a lot like Simon says. The end of the day was spent learning a dance that we will perform for school pep rallies and during football games. Our song is really fast this year and at first it made it really hard for us to learn the dance, but by the end of the week we had it down.

Cheerleading has a rich history in our country. Many cheerleaders start the sport in elementary school and continue on thru middle, high school and college. Even professional sports teams have cheerleaders. Some people wonder if cheerleading is a sport. I think it is and I will tell you why. Cheerleaders do more than just stand on the sidelines and cheer on their team. They are more than just beauty and bows. They practice for many hours like any other sports team. They train very hard to make their routines perfect. The definition of a sport in the dictionary is “an athletic activity that requires physical prowess or skill and often a competitive nature.” The first part of the definition was “an athletic activity requiring skill or prowess.” If you watch cheerleaders closely, you will see it takes an athletic person to be able to do all of those flips, tumbles, and tosses. It is kind of difficult to pull off. The next part says “requiring skill or prowess.” The stunts a cheerleader performs for a crowd is not usually learned in just a day or a week. It is a skill she learns. The last part says “often a competitive nature.” I think anyone who has seen a cheer competition knows that cheerleaders are very competitive. Cheerleading is a sport! It is a FUN sport! I hope to see everyone this fall come out and support the cheerleaders who support the football players! Remember, have fun and don’t be a slug.

Jordan is enjoying her summer and will be entering 4th grade next year.